Whisper
by The Ocean Is My Inkwell
Summary: Chloe Phoenix is smart. She's funny, she's hyper--and she's got tricks up her sleeve. But can she match wits with a ghost attacking camp? Rated T for adventure. ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1: Chicken of the Sea

**Hello! I know all my stories are about OCs, but bear with me—I just couldn't resist the urge to write this one. And I'm quite sure you'll find it very interesting and original, at any rate. So, read and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own PJO. That's why this is called **_**fanfiction**_**! Must I say it for the gazillionth time?**

Chapter 1: Chicken of the Sea

"Chloe! Don't stay too close to the waves!"

I smiled and waved back reassuringly to my mom, who was clutching desperately at her windswept straw hat and hurrying down the glimmering white beach toward me. Even after fifteen years, she was still protective of her only daughter.

"It's beautiful, isn't it, Mom?" I sighed, gazing out at the rippling sea cast with glowing rays by the setting run. Absently I fingered my shiny black braid slung over my shoulder.

"It's magnificent," said my mom. "It even matches your eyes, Chloe. It's the same misty grey-blue."

I smiled as she mentioned once again her admiration for my silver-blue eyes. They were quite different from her own; hers were a warm hazel to match her chocolate brown hair.

I caught a brief flicker of my reflection on the surface of the lapping waves. There I was, not too tall, lanky, with a nose and chin too pointy and my hair too dark against my pale skin. My lips were a very faint pink, almost the same as my marble-like cheek.

Again I smiled as a breeze swept by and curled its fingers playfully around my stray tendrils of hair framing my face; it spiraled down my bare arms and wrists and settled around my ankles, like a restless cat nuzzling against its master. "The wind is friends with me again, Mom," I laughed.

That was a mistake. I shouldn't have laughed so hard—I was seized by another of my coughing fits.

Mom quickly produced from her capacious pocket my blue plastic inhaler and held it to my mouth in silence. As usual, her eyes were worried. "Don't strain yourself," she urged me. "I brought you down here today because I thought some fresh air might help your asthma."

I breathed deeply and nodded my thanks. When at last I could speak again, I modulated my voice. "Long Island Beach… You said this is where you met my dad."

Mom smiled. I loved the way her whole face glowed when she smiled in remembrance of my dad. "Yes, it was. I was alone on the beach, young, full of high hope, with hair windswept and spirit free…"

I grinned. I knew she was going to slowly glide back into that same speech about my father, using the same tone and the same words as before.

"And then soft steps crept up behind me, and I turned around, and there he was. He was so handsome, Chloe. He had the same black hair as yours and the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. They were blue, blue as the sky."

"And his voice was soft and gentle, as he came closer and slipped his hand in mine," I recited along with her from memory. I giggled.

Mom cocked a brow playfully in my direction. "And when he spoke, he knew my name. 'Anelise, you are the one and only woman I seek,' he said to me."

"And you went off together deep in the ocean of love," I finished, teasing her.

"Oh, Chloe! It was more than that," my mother protested.

Our bantering was suddenly cut short by the roar of a high tidal wave. I jumped back, dragging my mother after me. "Mom! Watch out!"

We tumbled onto our backs in the sand just in time to see the wave crest and devour a piece of the shore; then, sulkily, it drew back and subsided.

I turned and started. "You're pale as a ghost! What's wrong?"

Mom's rosy lips grew white as she spoke. "Chloe. Get away from here. Run."

"What—"

Before I could finish, a deafening bellow crashed in my ears. I whirled.

The giant wave had morphed into a huge green slimy snake baring its flashing fangs at me. It lunged forward and swooped at me.

I screamed. My body was frozen.

"Chloe! Go!"

With an enormous effort I forced my feet to move. I turned and tripped, then scrambled up again and ran as hard as I could down the beach. The sand caught between my toes and pulled me down ankle deep into the shifting whiteness; I struggled and pelted on, hardly daring to look back.

Suddenly I stopped. Mom was still back there!

I turned back and ran toward her. She was stumbling toward me on her knees, with the serpent growling and twisting after her. She saw me and shook her head vehemently. "Chloe, no! Just run!"

Desperately confused, I stumbled, caught myself, and ran on.

My chest was heaving; I wheezed and panted for breath. I'd never run this hard before. I forced my legs to move, but the breath was no longer trickling in. I had no more air; I felt like my lungs were being squeezed to death. I released a breathless sob and fell on my knees. I could hear the serpent right behind me.

In the distance, Mom screamed.

My ribs were going to crack. My knees buckled, and I collapsed. The air was slowly ebbing from me. This was it. My mom was killed, and I was going to die.

Just then I was yanked up to my feet again and half-dragged, half-carried the rest of the way to the wharf. I had hardly enough energy to resist as I was shoved into the front seat of a car. Just as long as I was away from the monster, I was safe.

The slam of the car door awakened me to my senses. I moved my head slightly and saw a dark-haired teenage boy next to me, gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles grew white.

The car lurched ahead.

The boy tossed something into my lap. "That yours?"

I nodded and pressed the inhaler to my lips for the second time that day. Strangely, i felt no fear being with this unknown boy. "Who are you?"

"Triton," he said hurriedly, and floored the gas.

"Wait! Where's my mom?" I shouted over the roar of the engine.

"She's safe! She's already at camp!"

"She's _where_?"

"Where I'm taking you! Camp Half-Blood!"

**All right, this was a little bit thrown around when it comes to action. I hate to make my readers breathless by putting action in the very first chapter, but I also thought it would be a very catchy start. So please, please, **_**please**_** review!!!**

**(By the way, the character Triton is the sole property of sean1153. Thanks so much, Sean!)**


	2. Chapter 2: Sour Grapes

**Thanks so much for all the reviews! I'm thrilled that you like this one even better than my other fanfics. I'm also especially grateful to our new member sean1153 for his major contribution to this story. Without his character, this story wouldn't even be here.**

**Also thanks to Cerebella, who submitted a family of four characters who will also play major roles later on in the story.**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 2: Sour Grapes

The entire trip found me flattened against the back of my seat, gripping the arms for dear life, as the car swerved and spun and screeched its way down Long Island and raced on through NYC.

At last I could breathe normally again, and I lowered the inhaler from my mouth carefully. I shifted to observe the desperate driver launching me to my death.

His wavy hair was jet black and fell carelessly over one eye; I was able to detect that it was a startlingly bright green, green as the sea in summer. He wasn't exactly what my vapid* classmates would call "cute," but he had an admirably strong jawline and a long nose. He was rather lean, and he didn't seem to be wearing anything noticeable—just plain jeans and an army-green sweatshirt frayed at the cuffs.

He seemed to notice me studying him. He cleared his throat (but he didn't let up the gas, all the same). "Sorry if I was rude," he said. "I'm Triton del Mar. I'm a regular member of the camp I was talking about."

I glanced suspiciously at him. "And exactly how old are you, that you should be driving this car over a cliff?"

"Fifteen," he admitted guiltily. (**A/N: In NY, you have to be sixteen to learn how to drive.**)

"With the way things look right now, I don't think I'll even live to see this camp of yours." I sighed. "What is it all about, anyway? Why are you taking me there? I've never seen you before. And why were you there at the beach? And how did you know I was being attacked?"

"Whoa, whoa! One at a time!" he laughed.

I bit my tongue in time and merely shrugged. "Sorry. My medicine for my ADD doesn't always work."

"You mean ADHD?"

"No, ADD. There's a difference, you know."

"You sound just like a daughter of Athena…"

"What?"

He cleared his throat and finally slowed down the car a bit. "I guess I have to tell you all about this whole thing, then."

"Do."

"Well, I'm sure you know all about the Greek myths and stuff."

"Oh yeah, like Echo and Narcissus and Zeus and Demeter and Persephone…" Was I imagining it, or did the sky rumble ominously?

He nodded uncomfortably.

"I was named after the mythical nymph Chloe, you know," I informed him with an air of importance.

"Then you have a nice name," said the boy Triton. "But what I'm trying to say is, all this Greek stuff you've heard and read about, it's true."

My jaw dropped. "Give me the wheel," I said at last.

"Huh…?"

"I'm taking you to the nearest asylum."

"No, no, no! Listen! I'm telling you, everything I said is true!"

"How do I know you're not just a psycho?" I demanded, a bit too harshly.

"I can prove it." He smiled enigmatically.

"Just try."

"All right, then, Miss Skeptical Know-it-all. First of all, I saw that you were attacked by a serpent. Second—"

I blanched (if that was even possible, considering my already marble-like complexion). "A serpent? You know all about it?"

"Yes."

I heaved a great sigh of resignation. "All right, I got to admit, it's been happening to me ever since I was born. I have a scar to prove it." I twisted over my wrist and showed him the ugly gash extending all the way down the underside of my forearm.

He grimaced. "Not a pretty sight. I'll have to fix that for you at camp." Then he continued, "Secondly, I am the son of Poseidon."

I stared at him.

Suddenly a pool of water appeared in his open palm out of nowhere. "See?"

I sagged wearily in my seat. "Whew, that's quite a lot to tell…"

X~X~X~X~X

What appeared to be a deserted strawberry farm was actually what Triton called "camp." He parked his mom's dark blue Corolla behind a screen of orchard trees and helped me up the hill that marked the start of the border. It was a rather hard business on my lungs, so he had to nearly drag me up the steep slope. Then we halted beneath a tall, spreading dark pine tree, where there seemed to be a nearly invisible golden line crossing our path.

"I, Triton del Mar, hereby allow you to enter the borders of Camp Half-Blood," he recited mechanically, and the semi-visible border parted to let us pass. Then I struggled on after him toward a large white house straight ahead.

He led me up the rickety wooden steps and toward the back of the wrap-around porch, where the dusk sun shone low in the west to illuminate three figures seated at a table. One was a bald, rotund man in a leopard Hawaiian shirt and purple shoes and pants, who seemed wholly absorbed in the neat row of cards in his reddened hands; across from him was an older man with a short white beard and silver eyes, seated in a shiny black wheelchair. But I hardly glanced at them; I turned to the third one—and cried for joy.

"Mom! You're safe!" I rushed into her arms and squeezed her as I never had before. "But how—?"

"Pure magic," Mom laughed.

The white-haired old man suddenly rose and transformed before my eyes. His wheelchair attached to his waist and morphed into a dapple grey horse's legs and hindquarters; his body grew tall and muscular, and his beard lengthened. He was a centaur.

"Don't be surprised, Chloe," mutter Triton in my ear.

"Welcome, daughter," said the centaur. "I am Chiron, activities director and guardian of Camp Half-Blood."

"Yadda, yadda, yadda, humbugged horse-man," remarked the livid-faced man.

"Silence, Dionysus," said Chiron sternly. He turned back to me. "We all give you a hearty welcome here at Camp Half-Blood, Chloe Phoenix," he said. "I believe that you are one of us."

I gazed somewhat warily at him. "What do you mean?"

"I am sure Triton here has told you the first part about the Olympians," returned Chiron. "What I mean is that all the young campers here are sons and daughters of the gods. They are half-human and half-god."

I gaped.

"Yes, Chloe, you are a daughter of one of the gods." He smiled at my surprise (to put it lightly).

"Oh, great. Another brat to plague my already busy life," commented the man called Dionysus. (I later learned, vicariously, that he was called Mr. D.)

"I'm not the brat around here, mister," I retorted. "You are."

"Insolent infant!" he muttered. "You are a curse on everyone's life, Clara Physics."

I grimaced. "Um, it's _Chloe Phoenix_, in case you got spoonerism."

"Bah!" was all he could say.

**A/N: **_**Vapid**_** means "empty-headed." It's a whole new way of name-calling the prototype of an Aphrodite kid, if you get my meaning…**

**Sean, I'm sorry if I changed your character's name. I wasn't sure what his last name was, so I just chose **_**del Mar**_**, which I thought was sensible since it refers to the sea. If you want me to change it, please tell me.**

**Thanks for the reviews! You see that grey and green button down there? Just click it and put your name, and tell me what you think! Please?**


	3. Chapter 3: Playing with the Big Boys

**Thanks for all the reviews!**

**Anonymous Friend: Thanks a lot for the character profile. I'll think about it. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to use Eleni, but thanks anyway!**

**Read and enjoy!**

Chapter 3: Playing with the Big Boys

Mom was eager to stay at my side all day, but Chiron reproved her gently and convinced her that it would be better for her to be getting back to our apartment in NYC. So, sighing and kissing me good-bye, and reminding me to brush my teeth and carry my inhaler at all times and be polite to Chiron and eat all my food and be friendly to other kids, she slowly descended Half-Blood Hill, climbed into her car, and drove off.

I sighed as I watched her silver sedan disappear round the corner. At last I looked up again and turned to find a strange girl standing in front of me.

She was way taller than I was (of course, everyone at school called me "Shorty"); her long pale gold hair was crystallized in icicles. My own misty silver-blue eyes were no match for her ice blue ones in their intensity. Her face, however, looked strangely similar to mine, with a pointy nose and chin and cheekbones full of angles. But what immediately caught my attention was the fact that a breeze rustled all around her, just as a soft wind was whirling around my ankles also. Did I know her…?

"I'm Auslea," she proffered. Her voice was crisp, but friendly enough, I suppose. "You're the new girl, aren't you?"

I nodded and smiled shyly. "Chloe Phoenix."

"Of course," she said absent-mindedly, as if she had known my name all along. She studied me with those cold, sharp eyes of hers. "C'mon, I'll show you around."

"Thanks," I said.

"No problem."

She took my hand in her chilly one and led me back down the other side of Half-Blood Hill. Then she directed my steps to the right, toward a U-shaped semicircle of what were presumably the cabins. Of course, it was a camp.

"These are the kids' cabins," explained Auslea. "Everyone is grouped together according to parentage. For example, the Zeus cabin is over there, and the Hermes cabin is all the way at the end near us."

My face fell. "But I don't know who my father is," I said. "Where will I stay?"

"Hermes is the god of hospitality, so naturally, you would stay with the Hermes kids," she replied.

"Oh…"

"Look!" she said, tugging me away in the other direction. "Other there are the training groups. See, over here is the arena for swordfighting, and further on are the archery ranges."

"Archery?" My ears pricked up.

"Sure. We do all sorts of fighting here. You know, for quests and fighting monsters and the like."

"Do you mind taking me there?" I asked eagerly.

Auslea hesitated. Some sort of other emotion—probably pride—flashed for a millisecond across her icy eyes; then she seemed to soften again. "All right."

X~X~X~X~X

I hefted the pale, shimmering wooden bow in my hand. "It's so light," I breathed. "And what is this stuff made of? It's—it's _glowing_."

"That," said Auslea, indicating the bow and the shaft of the white-plumed arrows, "is celestial wood. It is imported specially from the orchards on Mount Olympus."

I twanged the string experimentally. "It's really stretched tight," I observed.

"The tension was obviously just adjusted, then. That's good. Usually they don't really maintain the practice weapons very well around here."

Tentatively, I lifted the bow to my ear and notched an arrow. Being a beginner, of course, I must have been rather clumsily, but still I couldn't help feeling how naturally the shape of the smooth shaft melted with my fingers. I turned in the direction of one of the closer targets, squinted, and concentrated. Just as I drew the string back and released the arrow, a sudden wind whipped at my back, and I gasped, wondering if my shot got ruined.

Bull's eye.

Auslea turned to me sharply. "How'd you do that…?"

I gaped at the arrow still quivering smack dead in the center of the ringed target. "No, actually, I thought the wind would blow it back…"

She looked at my curiously. "Perhaps it's just beginner's luck," she said at last. "But then, that's so improbable…" She shrugged and decided to let it go at that, but I could tell that for the rest of the day she was pensive.

After I had experimented with a few more successful (but less stunning) shoots, I plopped down on one of the benches, frustrated. "Now they hit the target, but not bull's eye," I sighed, staring wistfully at the white plume of the arrow still stuck in the center.

"Aw, forget it," said Auslea. For the first time since we'd met, she broke into a smile. "C'mon, let's head over to the pavilion. It's time for dinner, I believe."

"Okay."

X~X~X~X~X

"Say, you haven't met my whole family yet, have you?" said Auslea suddenly as we filed past the counter for our food.

Absently I dumped some mashed potatoes and fried chicken wings on my plate. "No. Is it big?"

"Not really. I'm the oldest, actually. I got two brothers and one sister."

"I'd like to meet them sometime," I said sincerely. I began making my way to a nearby table.

"Wait! You have to throw some in the fire!"

"What?"

Auslea pointed. "That fire. It's an offering to the gods."

"Oh, okay. But I don't know my dad…" I looked at the fire uncertainly.

"Doesn't matter." Auslea hurried past and scraped more than half of her food into the blue flames, muttering something like "Aeolus." No wonder she was thin as a toothpick.

I took a deep breath. "Here goes," I whispered, and emptied my plate of two wings and a spoonful of potatoes. "Dad, whoever you are, I hope you have a great dinner."

It was probably the lamest thing I could've said, but hey, I was just a kid.

I slid over across Auslea at the farthest empty table possible from the other kids. I glanced around and caught sight of a brawny, mean-looking bunch of kids guffawing over a stolen hair clip from one of the younger Aphrodite girls, who was crying and grabbing it back.

I pointed with my fork. "Who's that?"

"Oh, that huge jerk over there? That's Matt the camp bully. Favored son of Ares. Leader of the cabin. A terror at swordcraft."

I shuddered. "Why doesn't Chiron discipline him?"

She shrugged and seemed more interested in picking at her bird helping of macaroni and cheese. "He's still a son of a _god_, for Hades' sake, Chloe."

I was silent for a while, and I stared blankly down at my food as if I had just been served a plateful of mud.

Auslea at last caught on. "Don't worry about him. Just don't get in his way, that's all."

Just then something small and hard struck me acutely in the side of my head. I dropped my fork and looked down: it was the Aphrodite girl's jeweled hair clip that Matt had been tossing around.

Before I knew what I was doing, I flew to my feet. "You jerk! Stop that! Give it back to her!"

Matt turned at the sound of my voice. He sneered. "So the newbie wants to be pulverized, huh?"

I glared. "Stop teasing the girl!"

All around me, kids set down their forks and stared up at me. Even Chiron was looking across the pavilion at me with worry in his silver eyes. (Mr. D., as usual, was wholly absorbed in his Diet Coke.)

"That's none of your business," Matt retorted. He rose and took a step forward. I took a step back. But still I looked at him full in the eyes.

For a full minute we had a staring contest.

Suddenly Matt sensed Chiron coming over. Quickly he turned away, snarling, and sat back down.

Sighing in relief, I turned back to my own table. I didn't care if Chiron scolded me. I felt I had done what was right.

I started. "Auslea?"

She was gone.

X~X~X~X~X

That night, I tossed and turned and tumbled in my sleeping bag in my dank little corner in the Hermes cabin. I was thinking of too many things at once—Matt, Chiron, Auslea's disappearance, the stink of the room, and Mom. But what bothered me most was Auslea. Who was she? Why did she never talk to anyone? Why and how had she simply vanished into thin air? Who was her family?

_Was she even real?_

My tossing and turning finally got the better of me. My lungs squeezed together, and I was gripped by an asthma attack. Trying my best to remain calm, I slowly got up, breathing carefully, and felt around in the pockets of my jacket for my inhaler.

It was gone.

Panic seized me. I groped in all the pockets and even checked my sleeping bag, but it truly was gone. All the while, my wheezing grew louder, and breathing became more oppressive. I had to get out. At least some fresh air would help me.

I stumbled out the door into the silvery path of the moon. Maybe I had dropped the inhaler while taking off my jacket earlier…

"And so we meet again."

I whirled. The shadows concealed his features, but I knew his voice well enough. "Matt," I gasped, panting for air. "You have my inhaler, don't you? Give it to me."

He leered and held up the blue plastic tube to the light. "Yes, I have it. But I'm not giving it to you."

My lungs constricted. Fear always worsened my asthma. "Please, Matt! Just give it to me! I need it!"

"Not until you pay for what you did to me," he replied. He stepped closer.

"I'll do anything, just—"

Before I could say another word, he fell on me. More bodies surrounded me—he had brought the whole gang. They rushed at me and pummeled my back, throwing me down in the dirt facedown. I struggled and was rewarded with a blow that made my ears ring. Blood spurted from my nose and rushed down over my shirt.

I blacked out.

**I'm sorry this chapter was so long, and that it's pretty stressful, but it was rather necessary.**

**By the way, Auslea is Cerebella's own character, along with her "family" of brothers and sisters. Thanks, Cerebella!**

**And please keep reviewing!**


	4. Chapter 4: A Painful Awakening

Chapter 4: A Painful Awakening

"Chloe? Is that you? Chloe, wake up!"

I groaned and slowly cracked open my eyes. I struggled to sit up and gasped in pain. My entire body ached as if a boulder had smashed me up. My nose had stopped bleeding, but it was still caked in crimson liquid.

With an effort, I looked up. It was early morning, and Triton was standing over me, dressed as if he were going to training.

Tritons crouched down with concern in his eyes. He caught his breath when he saw my bruises. "Chloe, what happened? Are you all right? Who did this to you?"

I shook my head, unable to answer; my throat was dry as paper.

"C'mon, let's get you to the infirmary," he said urgently, and slipped a hand beneath my shoulders. Finding that I was too weak to stand, he swung me up and carried me in his arms all the way up the hill to the Big House.

Chiron was already there in centaur form, stamping his hoofs worriedly. "I knew something like this would happen," he told Triton, his voice low. "I really must do something about Matthew Slaney."

Triton murmured something back and carried me up the creaking stairs of the Big House up to the large whitewashed room that was supposedly the infirmary. He set me down gently in a cushioned chair by the door and hurriedly searched nearby cabinets for some sort of first-aid kit. "We're running short on ambrosia and nectar," he explained shortly.

I nodded faintly. At last Triton triumphantly produced a kit and proceeded to swab the blood from my nose. He washed my whole face with a clean, damp cloth and plastered a narrow Band-aid over the cut I had taken on my eyebrow. Then he washed my other wounds and treated them as best he could with a handy icepack.

When all was finished, he lingered and finally decided to sit down. "What happened?" he whispered, as if afraid someone might hear.

I roused myself to tell the story. "I was looking for my inhaler," I began. "I had an asthma attack last night in the cabin. I looked for it, but I couldn't find it. Then I went outside because I thought I might find it there. And then _he_ was there…with some other kids." I paused and drew a deep breath to steady my voice. "He said he wanted to pay me back for what I did to him in the pavilion yesterday."

Triton frowned. "I'll get him, I will—"

"Triton, no. Just let Mr. Chiron deal with him," I said urgently.

We both lapsed into silence; suddenly it struck me that now was the perfect time to find out what was bothering me. "Triton?"

"Mm?"

"Have you seen Auslea lately?"

"Who?"

"Auslea. You know, tall, thin, with long blonde hair and light blue eyes. Angular face. She was eating dinner with me yesterday."

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Triton, confused. "I've never seen anyone like that before here at camp."

"Really? A daughter of Aeolus, perhaps…?"

Understanding suddenly flashed across his deep emerald eyes. "Chloe, I think you saw—"

Just then the door flapped open, and Chiron stood in the doorway. "Triton, we need you outside."

"What's wrong, Chiron?" Triton flew to his feet, his hand already on the hilt of his sword.

"The Ares cabin. They've deserted."

I gasped.

"Deserted? Deserted _where_?" asked Triton.

"I believe they ran away to Hades."

**Yay! Cliffie! Again!**

**All right, this chapter was really meant to be really short. Don't worry, I'll make it up in the next one. And I bet you can't guess who Chloe's parent is!**

**Anonymous Friend: No, sorry, it's not Zeus, although I expected many reviewers would venture that guess. Don't worry, it was a smart guess, considering you examined Chloe's appearance—black hair and blue eyes and all. You're welcome to guess again if you like. I gave you more clues in Chapter 3.**

**And the rest of you, please review, review, review!**


	5. Chapter 5: I Wink Out

**Thanks again for the reviews!**

Chapter 5: I Wink Out

I didn't care if I was overworking my lungs. I bolted down the hill as fast as I could until I arrived at the head of the archery ranges. I barged into the armory and grabbed my bow and arrows from their peg on the wall; then I sprang outside again and strung my bow.

I didn't know what exactly I was doing. Was I unloading my emotions? Why was I angry? Why couldn't my mom be here when I needed her most? Why did Chiron let those Ares globs escape with what they did to me? How had my peaceful, normal life within twenty-four hours turned completely upside-down?

I whipped out an arrow.

_Thump_.

I grabbed another one and notched it.

_Thump_. This one was for the gods for messing up my life.

Panting, I squinted and calculated the distance of the next target.

_Thump_. This one was for Matt for beating me up.

Biting my lip, I drew back the bow all the way to my ear and laid the arrow carefully right between my fingers.

_Thump_. This one was for me for being a coward.

Bull's eye.

Behind me, someone cleared his throat. I whirled.

It was a boy not much younger than I was, with fair skin contrasting with his wavy jet black hair and his feverishly bright blue-green eyes. The high angle of his nose gave him the overall appearance of cockiness and arrogance.

Still breathing heavily from my exertion, I tilted my head slowly to the side. This boy looked familiar…

He nodded, as if he'd read my mind. "I am Enrique," he said. "You've met my sister Auslea."

I smiled faintly in recognition. "Ah, so you're part of her mysterious 'family.' A son of Aeolus…"

"Yes."

My curiosity got the best of me. I was always being impetuous when it came to speaking my mind. "Who's Aeolus? And why did your sister disappear yesterday? How come I've never seen you before? Are you real?"

"Aeolus is the father god of all winds," he explained slowly. "I don't exactly know what you're talking about, speaking of my sister… And of course I'm real. Here, pinch me."

I held back. "But I asked the other kids, and they've never heard of you or your brother and sisters."

He grinned. "I don't think that's a very important question right now, do you? Obviously I'm standing right here in front of you in flesh and blood."

I sighed and shrugged. "I guess…I was just curious…"

When I looked up again, he was gone.

X~X~X~X~X

"Chloe! Is that you, Chloe?"

I glanced up at the sound of Triton's voice. Quickly I picked up my bow again, as if defensive about why I should be out here so early in the morning alone. Unconsciously I held my breath.

Triton gasped. "Where'd you go?"

I exhaled again. "What?"

"You—you just disappeared!"

"I don't know what you mean."

"You just vanished into thin air. Then when I asked where you went, you appeared again."

Suddenly it dawned on me. When I held my breath, I turned invisible.

Triton shook his head in confusion and slowly picked his way down the slope toward me with a sigh of resignation (probably at my weirdness). "I've been looking for you," he explained, smiling slightly. "Where've you been?"

I shrugged, still somewhat unnerved by my dreamlike encounter with the son of Aeolus just five seconds ago. I sat down again on one of the benches, my hand shaky. I pressed my recovered inhaler to my mouth to steady my breathing a bit.

He moved closer and sat down in the grass at my feet. "So, you were practicing archery," he observed, ending up answering his own question. He glanced behind him at the arrows studded all over the target. "Looks like you're pretty good at it, too."

I nodded wearily. "I was just sort of…letting out."

"Mm," he said as politely as he could without sounding insouciant. "Say, I came down here to tell you something. You know, you asked me about the girl called—was it Aussie or something?"

"Auslea."

"You told me you saw her yesterday, and she was with you at dinner. And then she disappeared, or something like that. Right?"

I nodded.

"I'm really not sure if this is the answer to your question, but a long time ago, way back in the nineteenth century, there was this family of four kids that came to camp. The oldest was a tall, blonde girl, then her two brothers, and the youngest was a little brown-haired girl. Later they were collectively claimed as children of Aeolus, god of winds." He paused.

I waited. "Go on."

"Well, these kids were really powerful when they worked together. They could control the winds like no one had ever seen before. They were so powerful that one day Zeus selected them to go on one of the most dangerous and secret quests of all time: they were to find and destroy a powerful son of Hades who had begun to serve Kronos and had mustered a swiftly growing army of monsters and half-bloods to sweep the entire world." Again he stopped to draw a breath.

I could hardly wait to hear more. "Then what happened?"

"They were really very brave. They went down to Hades to find this person and fight him. Auslea stood up to him and challenged him to a duel to the death. She almost won, but then he cheated and used magic against her. She died."

I gasped.

"Her brothers and sister were enraged and vowed to avenge Auslea's death. So they stood, three against five thousand, and fought bravely against the dark forces to their last breath.

"The son of Hades eventually killed himself the night he invaded Olympus and saw he was overpowered. The four kids of Aeolus were honored with a reserved place for them in Elysium, but because they had died without completing their quest, their ghosts still roam the earth. Apparently they returned to camp."

I was silent for a moment. "Can't they ever be free and go to Elysium?"

Triton shook his head. "No. Not until—" Here he suddenly stopped.

"Not until what?" I prodded.

He bit his lip. "Come on, I think it's high time you talked to Chiron about this. I'll take you to the Big House."

"But—but why?" I asked, confused and frustrated and curious all at the same time.

"You might get a prophecy from the Oracle."

**Sorry I didn't update for a while—I was busy writing my other story "Blue Fire."**

**I hope you liked this chapter! If it sucks, please tell me. If you fell in love with it, please tell me also. Review, review, review!**


	6. Chapter 6: Quiet Time?

**Thanks again for the reviews!**

**Anonymous Friend: Your question was, how do you write stories of your own here on . First of all, you have to set up your own account, which means you have to register (there's a link on the home page) and use your own e-mail account to activate it. Then you can create a profile, an avatar, and personal polls, and upload saved documents to your Document Manager from your computer files. Then you convert those documents to stories or chapters of stories. Hope that helps! And by the way, if you want a beta reader (an editor and advisor), I'd be more than happy to be your beta! (If this is not clear, just e-mail me at .)**

**Cerebella: Yay! You love it? Yep, Zale and Klaesta **_**are**_** going to show up too. Please keep reading! ;D**

Chapter 6: Quiet Time…?

"Prophecy? Oracle? What do you mean?" I stammered, confused. "Doesn't a prophecy have something to do with a quest? And aren't I supposed to be claimed first by my dad to get a quest of any sort?"

Triton rubbed his brow as if to clear his mind from my barrage of five questions. "Yes, that's what I mean," he replied hastily. "Yes, it is a quest, and yes, you're supposed to be claimed first by your dad. Whoever he is…"

My face fell. "So, why should I go seeking a prophecy in the first place?"

"I was thinking more of a prophecy for Chiron or the people involved in this Aeolus family thing," said Triton slowly. "Like, maybe not specifically for you, or in fact maybe just for you, but something that will tell us what will happen or what _we_ can do to free Auslea and her family from their walking shadows."

I nodded. "Okay, I suppose that makes sense."

"C'mon, then, I'll help you up the hill."

I winced as I got up and jerked my bruised shoulder. Then I hobbled after him.

X~X~X~X~X

"So you think that the Oracle may provide us with a message about these four lost children of Aeolus?" said Chiron, leaning back in his wheelchair and studying us from a distance.

I nodded eagerly. "It was Triton's idea. He thought it might be possible, especially since—since…"

"Since what, child?" Chiron prodded gently.

"Since they've always appeared to me," I blurted out. I couldn't help it. I immediately poured out everything, from my first encounter with the girl with icicles in her hair, to my latest conversation with the cocky black-haired brother of hers.

For the first time since our conclave, Chiron looked sincerely concerned. "I see," he murmured to himself. Then he looked up at me again. "But you do understand, child, that you cannot receive a prophecy for yourself unless you are claimed?"

"Yes, sir," I said meekly.

"I see," he repeated absently. Then he roused himself, clearing his throat. "Triton, Chloe, I will see what I can do about the matter. Perhaps it is better if I consult the Oracle alone; I also need time to think of what to do about the absconded Ares cabin, you see. Maybe it would be best if you two go out and engage yourself with the other young people while I have some quiet time here."

"Okay," I piped, and rose to go.

"Wait," said Chiron suddenly as I moved away after Triton's disappearing figure. "I have heard from Triton that you are an excellent archer."

I flushed. "Yes, sir, if I do say so myself, sir."

He nodded. "I see," he replied for the third time that day. "Well, perhaps it is nothing, but I am beginning to have an idea of who your father may be…"

I was tickled to death to know what he thought about it, but then I saw his distant look and thought better of it. I bit my tongue and exited the room.

X~X~X~X~X

"Have you ever considered that your father might be Zeus?" asked Triton suddenly.

I stumbled and caught myself. "What?"

"Oh, well…never mind," he hastily amended. "Maybe I'm wrong. I was just thinking, since you have black hair and blue eyes, and you're good at archery, just like that other daughter of Zeus…"

"Who?" I asked eagerly.

"Well, it goes like this—about thirteen years ago or so, there was this famous guy, a son of Poseidon. He's my older brother, you know. I've never pet him, but I'd like to someday—I've heard a lot about him. He was called Perseus Jackson, and he was chosen by the Fates and by the gods to fulfill the great prophecy of all time and destroy Kronos, the evil Titan who had risen from the dead. It's a rather long story, but anyway, he did do it eventually. And one of his friends was this girl, a daughter of Zeus, called Thalia. She looked exactly like you, except that she was more—punk, you could say…" Here he suddenly stopped.

"What?" I asked.

"You—you disappeared again!" he gasped, half-laughing and half-wondering.

I released my breath and faded back into reality. Unconsciously I had held my breath while listening to his tale, and I had slowly faded into thin air. I laughed. "I better be careful! If you keep on telling me such good stories, I'll turn invisible forever!"

He laughed too. "Well, I guess that was a stupid idea of mine. Maybe you're not a daughter of Zeus—especially since you're…um…"

"Short?" I suggested with a sly grin. "Don't worry, I'm used to it. My classmates always call me Shorty. But they certainly shouldn't mess with _me_ anymore, especially if I have a bow handy…"

He grinned. "Say, wanna race me to the arena? I can teach you how to throw a spear over there."

I smiled grimly and adjusted the bow slung across my back to a more convenient position. Then I nodded.

"Ready…set…go!"

I leaped forward, legs and arms extended in a long, sleek streamline. I whooshed down the hill snaking along the side of the hill; I set my eyes forward and didn't look back. Suddenly I felt air rushing into my lungs through my mouth, filling me with confidence and giving me new strength. I sprinted on.

At last I arrived at the arena. I stopped and paused for breath, but I didn't need it after all—I wasn't even breathless! I marveled at this miracle. What had happened to my asthma…?

Triton at last caught up, panting and wheezing. He pouted boyishly. "No fair…"

I grinned. "Maybe my dad is the wind!"

To my surprise, Triton didn't even smile at my little joke. His countenance grew serious. "Chloe…"

"Mm?" I said, still in a teasing mood.

"You could actually be right, you know…"

I didn't have time to clarify his ambiguous statement. I caught a furtive movement to my right. Immediately my hand flew to the bow slung on my shoulder. "Shhh! What's that?"

He tensed and reached for his sword too. A brief rustle of leaves and cloth reached my ears, this time from the left; cautiously I planted one foot over the other, one at a time, and turned in a full circle.

Suddenly there was a flash of black right in front of me. I shouted and leaped after the snap of black cloth. "You there!" I yelled. "Stop!"

(I must have been dumb enough to actually believe the person would stop at _my_ command!)

Just then the person halted and whirled to face me, his jaw set and his black eyes flashing. Vaguely I took in his wavy brown-black hair flying in the wind that followed me. He whipped out his sword and sliced the air. Before Triton caught up, the young man was already advancing. "En guarde!" he bellowed.

**Evil cliffie! Whoo-hoo!**

**Can you guess who the person is? Please, please, please tell me! I don't care even if you're a horrendous guesser! Just fire ahead!**

**Sorry it took me so long to update. I was really busy over the weekend with my family. Anyway, review, review, review!**

**(Please?)**


	7. Chapter 7: Dizzy Little Chloe

**Over 40 reviews? Already? Thanks **_**so**_** much!**

**For those of you (pretty much all of you, lol) who guessed that the guy was my OC son of Hades, well, you're all wrong. That's right, you all guessed wrong…**

**Anonymous Friend: *gasps* You really think I'm god at cliffies? *blushes* Oh boy, you certainly are bloating my head… Hehe, glad you liked it!**

Chapter 7: Dizzy Little Chloe

In a second I had strung my bow and notched an arrow to the string, aiming directly at the person's heart.

He was surprised. "What are you—"

At that precise moment, Triton came barreling down the hill after me, swinging his heavy steel sword and emitting an intimidating war-whoop. "You evil invader!" he shouted. "Depredator of our sanctuary! Vile snake! Don't touch her!"

The person stared openmouthed at Triton, who at that very second had his sword raised high above his head (though presently it was held suddenly in check).

"I wasn't going to," replied the boy uncertainly, lowering his dark sword slowly.

My excitement made me pant from my asthma again. I hardly heard his words, and I stretched the cord back past my ear even farther, the sleek shaft of the arrow still poised precariously at his chest. I breathed heavily and glanced at the shocked Triton, waiting for his signal; my fingers grew clammy with the sweat of the effort of holding back the bow so long.

At last Triton (like the dummy he sometimes was) registered the full meaning of the strange boy's message. Quickly he motioned to me and sheathed his own sword. Breathing a sigh of relief, I likewise loosened the bow and lowered it to the ground.

Triton beckoned to me to stand back and take a breather while he found out more about this invader. I promptly obeyed and tugged out my blue inhaler from the pocket of my jeans.

"Who are you? And what is your business here?" demanded Triton.

The other boy laughed. "Hey, it's okay!" he said. "Don't you know me?"

Triton narrowed his eyes, studying the boy from head to foot. Suddenly his eyes widened. "Are you…?"

The boy nodded. "Yep, I'm Nico di Angelo."

I almost choked on my breather. "_Who_?"

He nodded. "That's right. I'm Nico. Why, d'you know me?"

I glanced sideways at Triton. "Triton here…um…mentioned your name in connection with his brother."

Now it was Nico's turn to be confused. "And who is his brother?"

I grinned. "Percy Jackson!"

X~X~X~X~X

Chiron cantered to the door of the Big House to greet us as we trudged slowly up the grassy slope toward him. He started when he saw our new companion. "Why, Nico di Angelo!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here, my boy? Where have you been all this time?"

"With my dad," replied Nico. "And I'm here to help."

I whirled. "Help? Us? Why? What's wrong? You never told us that!"

Nico shook his head. "It was too open out there in the arena," he explained shortly. He turned back to Chiron. "Could we talk privately in the Big House?"

"We just came from there," Triton complained half-heartedly.

I shot him a furious glance.

Chiron simply nodded and beckoned us to follow him inside. Once the door was firmly shut and locked, the four of us settled down once more before the ashes of the dead fireplace and stared at each other for half a minute, as if each one was prompting another to speak first.

At last Chiron cleared his throat. "Nico. I believe you had something grave to tell us."

Nico didn't waste any unnecessary breath. "It's about the Aeolus kids."

I paled (and I now looked more like a vampire instead of a marble statue). "What?"

Nico nodded, but he did not turn to me; his gaze was fixed steadily on Chiron. "You never told me about them before," he went on, "but I found out. Yesterday."

My ADD was uncontrollable. "Who? What? Where? When? Why? And how?"

Chiron silenced me with a motion of his hand. "Chloe, perhaps it is better to let Nico speak."

Chastised, I fell silent once more and fidgeted in my chair.

"Yes, the Aeolus kids," resumed Nico, somewhat distractedly, as if he were deeply occupied. He rubbed his head. "Auslea, Enrique, Zale, and Klaesta. My dad told me all about their quest…and what happened to my very, very old and long-dead brother Jake."

"The one who attacked Olympus and killed himself?" I blurted.

Nico glanced at me curiously. "You seem to know a lot about them."

I bit my tongue and scolded myself for my blabbermouth. Again.

"Anyway," he continued, "my father Hades told me that he has been watching the earth, and he senses something dark and mysterious coming toward Olympus. And somehow, he thinks, it is connected with the Aeolus kids."

"Their ghosts, you mean," corrected Triton. I nodded in the affirmative.

Chiron had been leaning forward more and more during Nico di Angelo's narration. "How can this—this _dark thing_ be connected to the Aeolus kids?"

Nico looked worried. "I'm not sure. Actually, I don't know. I tried to get Dad to tell me more, but he's always so secretive, even with me."

I sighed audibly and moaned to myself. "Why, oh why did I ever get mixed up with these demigod affairs?"

Triton half-smiled and elbowed me. "Hey, it's not that bad! You'll get used to it. I mean, you should be glad that the chances of your premature death are rather slim."

I said nothing, but instead looked up at Chiron. "Do you think you have any idea as to how to solve this convoluted mystery?"

He shook his head and closed his eyes for a brief moment. "I have consulted the Oracle, yet she has not opened up to me. There is something wrong."

I knit my brows in confusion. "Maybe…we should have some time out," I suggested, very brightly.

"Okay," said Nico and Triton together.

Chiron nodded and waved toward the door. "You have permission to leave now."

Silently we rose and exited the room, leaving a very forlorn and pensive centaur in a wheelchair.

X~X~X~X~X

Now that we were out in the open and in fresh air, I felt free as a lark to now fire ahead nonstop and ask all my questions. I turned to Nico. "Who are you really? Where do you come from? How old are you? Did you know Percy well? Could you tell me more about yourself?"

Triton grinned. "Sorry, Nico," he apologized. "She's like that."

I jabbed him. "Shut up."

He raised his hands in resignation. "All right, all right!"

Nico took my keen interest in him as a compliment, apparently. "I'm Nico, second son of Hades," he explained patiently. "I had a sister before, Bianca. We both came from L.A. I'm pretty much on my own now here in NYC. I'm…hmm…eighteen now, going on nineteen."

"You're pretty old," I said, none too politely.

He smiled. "Not really. I'm old enough to be a cabin leader, at least…although if I had a cabin of my own, there'd be no one to lead," he joked morosely. "But to answer your question, yes, you could say I knew Percy pretty well. He was like my big brother, I guess. We went on a quest together before…" Here he stopped, and I was discreet enough to leave it at that.

"So," I said abruptly, to change the subject. "Are you going to stay with us a while here at camp? You said you were going to…uh…_help_ us, whatever that means."

He just nodded. "I may be here for two months or so, actually. I need to help around training the newbies and younger kids for battle—"

"—like me?" I said, grinning.

He looked surprised. "You're a newbie? I never would've guessed…the way you handled that bow…"

I shrugged. "If I talk fast, I learn even faster, my mom always says."

"Too fast," remarked Triton.

I glanced at him. "Faster than _you_, at any rate."

Nico laughed softly at this exchange between us.

Suddenly what he had just said struck me. "Wait—why are you going to train the kids? What's wrong? What is really going on?"

Nico stopped, startled. He glanced hastily all around, as if afraid someone would hear (which was unlikely, since it was actually nearing dinner hour). Triton seemed to remember this, and he bid us farewell and hurried off toward the dining pavilion.

"Something _is_ wrong," Nico admitted at last. "I think there's going to be a…well…let's just say it's an invasion."

"_What_?" I nearly yelled.

"Shush! Keep it down! We don't want to alarm the campers!" whispered Nico frantically.

"But—but by who? When? And will it be right here at camp?" I rushed breathlessly.

"Yes, yes, most likely it will be at camp," he said. "Like I said, I don't know who it is, or when it will be exactly, but we have to be prepared. And I have a strange feeling it's somehow connected with Jake…and the Aeolus kids."

I sighed in frustration and ran a bony hand through my thick ebony hair. "This really is _quite_ too much to take in all at one time," I remarked. "I think I'll just phone Mom and ask her to pick me up tomorrow—"

"No! Wait! Stay!" cried Nico. "We need you."

I laughed. "Need me? For what? Since when was I ever good at anything?"

"You're good at archery," he pointed out.

"But I'm just a newbie!" For once, I was starting to appreciate that hated label as a protective covering.

Silence reigned.

Then Nico sighed. "Okay, okay, I understand you're having a hard time. Just relax. Don't stress yourself. I did the same thing when I came to camp, and it didn't do me one bit of good. Maybe we should just have some nice, quiet dinner first. Then we can talk again later."

I nodded silently; his suggestion was a sensible one, at least. I began to move away up the hill toward the pavilion.

Nico shortened his stride to match mine. "Say, sorry I never was introduced to you," he said suddenly. "Who are you?"

"I'm Chloe Phoenix," I proffered. "Fifteen. Daughter of Anelise Phoenix and an unknown father."

"Oh," was his reply as I announced my unclaimed status.

Great, two lame ducks together.

X~X~X~X~X

Dinner was the usual ordinary soup-and-crackers type or the alternative eat-all-you-can pizza buffet. I grabbed some mushy, unidentified pasta, dumped two thirds of it in the celestial fire, and slid onto the bench across from Nico. It did feel good eating with somebody, since I didn't exactly enjoy the company of the Hermes kids, and I didn't belong in the Poseidon table, and I didn't like being all alone either.

Just as Nico was opening his mouth to say something to me, I froze. Literally openmouthed, Nico silently followed my gaze. It led him to an empty, innocent little bush.

"What?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing, nothing. I just thought I caught a movement…" I stopped suddenly as I caught that same rustling movement again, this time much closer.

Nico started to his feet. "What the—"

He never completed whatever imprecation he was about to utter. Sleek black arrows, swift and silent as schooners, whistled through the air and rushed past, embedding themselves with consecutive thuds in the wood of the table behind me. I gasped and leaped back as far as I could get out of target range; then I whipped out my bow and let loose a return volley.

Chiron was on his feet (or rather hoofs) also, shooting arrows. "Everyone! To arms! To arms! Attack!"

The other kids needed no further prompt. They unsheathed whatever weapons they had—spears, daggers, bows, and swords, even magical convertible shields. As one, those in proper gear held up their shields in a protective tunnel that both deflected the rain of black arrows and served as a roof over our makeshift battlements.

(Mr. D., predictably, had slunk away beneath a table to consume the remainder of the contents of his soda can and was half-heartedly pitching his leftover pizza at the unseen enemy.)

Like the silly fool I always was, I didn't get it. I stayed out in the open, in full range of the invisible archers, and fired back arrows to the last of my store. I wondered apprehensively if my quiver would ever be replenished again.

"Chloe! Fall back! Fall back!" shouted Triton.

I didn't hear him.

Nico joined in. "Chloe! Come back!"

At the sound of his voice, I half-turned and was immediately rewarded by a solid _thwack!_ on the side of my head. I collapsed with an "oof" and struggled to rise, but my temple had been grazed.

All around me, dark figures rushed about pell-mell. The kids shouted and raised an ancient Greek battle cry and charged.

The slash of steel and the whistle of arrows grated against my ears. At last I succeeded to arise and tottered weakly back toward the shelter of the row of shields. Some sort of ghostly, ghastly monster sprang at me out of nowhere and thrust at me with its scimitar, aiming a blow at my head which I just barely dodged.

Despite my wound, I began to feel the adrenaline flowing up through my veins. With the last of my strength, I snatched out an arrow from my near-empty quiver and stabbed blindly at the monster. It bellowed as its knees buckled and it took the cut to its chest. But as it fell, I fell with it, and its heavy curved blade caught my flesh in the arm. I yelled as blood began to pour down my shirt.

I hardly noticed as the monster washed away into dust in my arms. I staggered to my feet and croaked aloud for water, or rest, or help, or all of them at once. My vision grew foggy, and I began to see double shapes. Just then a dark, blurry image rushed at me and hacked my shoulder. I took the blow and fell to the ground like withered grass.

I had no more strength to resist. Weak from loss of blood, I tried my best to push away my assailant, but he only cackled and jerked my up again into the smoggy shadows. Vaguely, in the last moments of my consciousness, I recognized it as a strange being that was half-dog and half-man. Then the horrid creature clapped a hand over my mouth and nostrils, cutting off my breath. I struggled and yelled for help, but soon my cries were deadened by lack of air. He jerked my arms back and pinioned my wrists together; then I crumpled to the ground and lost consciousness.

**Sorry if the pacing is rather fast. It's really meant to be like that—a lot of action in the beginning, and then a lot more adventure in the remainder of the story. Hope you like it!**

**Note: Sometimes, when I'm too lazy to log in, I submit anonymous reviews to fanfics here under the name of either Chloe Phoenix or Rina Barr, just to let you know ('Rina' is from my first name and 'Barr' is from my middle name). ;D **

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_RaechelleMarie_

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**And if you want to be included in this list, please just click that wonderful, wonderful light grey and green button down there! Preferably, could you tell me what you think about my style, plot, characters, perspective, and0020pacing? Thanks! It really will help me!**


	8. Chapter 8: Fill in the Blanks

**Yay! My story's getting rather popular around here! Thank you all for your encouragement, constructive criticism, contributions, and general support of my career here as a fanfic author! I love you all as my own family!**

**Anonymous Friend: Yeah, actually I **_**did**_** consider at first using Triton's perspective for some chapters, but then I decided not to because it would be somewhat awkward, especially since he's still a borrowed character and also not one of the very, very main characters. (Hint: The two most main characters are Chloe and Nico.) However, I am using alternating POVs in my new chapter fanfic, **_**Two Pi**_**. Thanks again for your suggestions and support!**

**sean115920: Wow. I actually, wow, used your character, wow, exactly the way you, wow, imagined him…wow…**

**Sheva Das: Thanks **_**so**_** much for the supercalifragilisticexpialidociously long review! I love long critiques—and your comments certainly were very meaningful and helpful! You're one of my best advisors!**

Chapter 8: Fill in the Blanks

I awoke with a start to an awful stench in my nose and a bitter, stale taste in my mouth. It turned out I was lying on my side on some sort of patch of dirt and grass in a forest, with a gag between my teeth and my hands bound tightly behind my back. My wounds on my arm and shoulder had been clumsily wrapped in a strip of my grimy used-to-be-white t-shirt, but they hadn't been cleaned yet, and they throbbed fiercely.

I tried to move my head, but it ached like Hades too from a knock on the back of my skull; I had to content myself with glancing around and taking in everything by turning my eyes. I gasped inwardly when I saw that I was lying in the middle of a clearing in the forest of Camp Half-Blood—and I wasn't alone.

A rough semicircle of huge canvas tents had been pitched all around, with unlit torches stuck in the ground and a couple of huge stone wheel machines moved to one side for sharpening weapons. Strange creatures strode purposefully back and forth from beneath the tents out of the forest or back into this makeshift camp; there were the same dog-man monsters I had seen before, along with minotaurs lumbering along beside hellhounds prowling and growling in the dirt. All around me were strewn the bodies of both dead and half-dead half-bloods just my age or slightly older; others were captives bound and gagged, like me.

I glanced up and immediately encountered the twisted, agonized grimace of the filthy, bloody countenance of a dead girl beside me. A thin rivulet of crimson trickled down her brow; her hazel-green eyes had lost their luster and were forever fixed ahead, staring into nothingness, half-hidden by her matted, muddy chestnut hair. I shrieked into my gag and rolled away, my stomach battling inside me to empty its contents on the ground.

"Chloe! That you?"

I jerked my head back at the sound of the urgent whisper at my shoulder. My wild, frightened eyes encountered Triton's calm sea green ones. His jet black hair was messy and muddy, and his wrists were tied like mine, but he had somehow worked his jaw free of his ragged gag.

I stared at him, as if to ask him what happened.

Apparently he picked up my message. "We lost the battle," he whispered hastily. "The monsters have taken over."

I motioned my head in the direction of the stinking pile of bodies.

Triton's face was grim. "Quite a few died," he said softly. "The Ares cabin was almost wiped out because they refused to retreat or surrender. Most of the Aphrodite cabin survived, though. Many of them sneaked away and hid, but the monsters caught them anyway."

I suddenly started tearing and chewing my gag with my sharp teeth in a desperate attempt to free myself from the horrible taste and to allow myself to breathe more easily. My asthma was bothering me again.

Triton got the message. Quickly he rolled over and pretended to be unconscious as a minotaur passed by; then he inched closer and gently rubbed the cloth out from between my teeth with his tied hands. I breathed deeply and murmured my thanks.

"So what do we do now?" I whispered.

Triton shook his head. "Nothing. We just wait. There aren't enough of us yet to revolt and drive back the monsters."

"Where's Chiron? And Mr. D.?"

"Mr. D. somehow ascended to Olympus, I think," replied Triton. "Of course, it wouldn't work to try to capture _him_. As for Chiron—I honestly don't know…"

I sighed in frustration. "We have no one to help us!"

He glanced at me sympathetically.

Suddenly it struck me. "What about Nico?"

Triton hesitated. "I—uh…"

"Where is he?" I pressed.

"He's sort of…with his brother…you know, Jake…"

I gasped. "_What_?"

"Shhh!" he hissed. "Not so loud!"

I toned down my voice with an effort. "What do you mean?" I managed at last out of my shock.

"I don't know, I really don't know," said Triton a bit helplessly.

Fury filled my eyes, hardening them to a flinty steel blue. "I knew it. I just knew it. He's a traitor."

"Not so fast!" cautioned Triton. "He could just be planning something. You never know."

I sighed again. "I sincerely hope you're right."

X~X~X~X~X

An insistent hand shook me awake. I groaned and slowly opened my eyes; I was still weak from loss of blood and the shock of the sudden turn of events.

Nico's blurry face slowly came into focus. He was holding out some sort of wooden bowl with a thick brownish liquid in it. He quickly set it down again when he saw I still had my gag on (which Triton had actually put back), and he worked the knot free. Then he began spooning the strange-tasting stew into my mouth. "Eat," he whispered.

I obeyed and ate my share; the soup was not too bad, and at least it was filling. But as soon as I had finished, I looked up again. "What are you doing here with Jake?" I fired, point-blank.

He started and glanced around to ascertain that no one around was listening; then he leaned forward and whispered quickly, "Everything's all right, I'm still with you. I'm just trying to help you. Jake thinks I'm helping him plan the rest of his attacks on—"

"Wait! Jake is _alive_?" I gasped.

He nodded ruefully. "I don't know he did it. He must've faked his death."

Then it dawned on me. "Triton told me before that ghosts are indestructible," I whispered breathlessly. "I get it now!"

"What?"

I struggled to be coherent despite my excitement over my epiphany. "Jake's a ghost!" I said. "He's trying to build up a whole army of ghosts so he can attack Olympus again and take over the world. And somehow, he was trying to use the ghosts of the Aeolus kids to penetrate the camp."

Nico looked concerned. "I don't think they would just do that for him."

"Maybe he's controlling them, somehow," I said slowly, my brain working at a million miles per hour. "Maybe he somehow removed their will or something, or he's blackmailing their spirits."

"That makes sense," breathed Nico. "That's it. You're right. You've figured it all out!"

"So what do we do now, with that information?" I asked anxiously.

"We have to stop them, somehow," said Nico. His dark eyes suddenly sparked with an idea. "Jake and I were studying his maps. He plans to make an attack on certain points scattered throughout New York City. And right now he's not sure who to send to scout out the area, because all his monsters are presumably ghosts and thus can't change shape anymore to disguise themselves as humans. I could volunteer to go there myself, and then I would have an excuse to be away from camp. Meanwhile, I would still be nearby. I'll try to get you and Triton free, and then we can somehow get help."

"But won't he suspect you're trying to trick him?"

Nico shook his head. "I already tried to deceive him from the minute we met. I pretended to swear my fealty to him, and naturally he believed me, because we're brothers."

I nodded, but I was still uneasy about his plan. I sighed. "I guess there's nothing else either of us can think of," I said in resignation. "By Zeus above, I really hope your plan will work."

He squeezed my arm assuringly. "Don't worry, Chloe. I'll manage it. I'll get you out of here."

I tried to smile; it was only a thin smile, but he saw it. He smiled back, and for a moment our eyes met.

Just then the flap of a large canvas tent whipped back, and a tall dark-haired young man stepped out into the clearing. He was dressed all in black, complete with high leather boots a shiny leather jacket, and a dark sword of smoky steel hung naked at his side; but I couldn't be fooled. Jake was a ghost.

Jake placed his hands on his hips and stood that way at the entrance of the tent, surveying the progress of the camp. Suddenly his black eyes alighted on the huddled group of prisoners. He caught sight of unsuspecting Nico and me whispering together in the shadows.

He strode directly toward us and drew his dark sword with a ring. Slowly he laid its glistening point against his brother's neck and tipped his head up. "Nico di Angelo. What did I tell you about talking to prisoners?"

**Sorry I had a somewhat graphic description of the bodies in the beginning of the chapter. But you can't say I didn't warn you! This fanfic **_**is**_** rated T, after all.**

**Sorry also that this chapter isn't so long. The original version of this section actually had a lot more in it, especially in Nico and Chloe's conversation, but I just trimmed it down to the very basic and necessary dialogue. And the original version of this chapter didn't end on that wicked little cliffie… I just wanted to be naughty. ;D**

**And my deepest apologies to Ultimacy On High for forgetting to include you in my list of regular reviewers. But thanks anyway to:**

_RaechelleMarie_

_emeraldangel527 (Sorry I got your name wrong!) _

_sean115920_

_FantasyFan-WriterGirl_

_Ultimacy On High_

_olympianchef213_

_olympiangirl_

_Cerebella_

_Azn-Cake_

_Demeter And Artemis Rock_

_Anonymous Friend_

_AleBee_

**and **_Sheva Das_**.**

**By the way, I've decided to announce that although I use the name Chloe Phoenix as my own name as a half-blood, my character Chloe is **_**far**_** from what I am. She is virtually my foil—she's pale, and I'm olive-skinned; she has blue eyes, and I have black; she's a chatterbox and a question-shooter, while I'm quite reserved; she tends to be impatient, but I tend to be patient; she's great at archery, while I prefer swordfighting; and she is handicapped by her asthma, while I'm very full-blooded and athletic. The only characteristics we share are height (or rather shortness!), hair, speed, and intelligence.**

**Please review! Tell me if you think this chapter is too dark, confusing, or cynical. But if you also like my characters, dialogue, and developing plot, please tell me also! Review!**


	9. Chapter 9: Chains of Freedom

**Sorry I kept you all waiting!**

**Anonymous Friend: Haha, 'ja' is German (you pronounce it 'yah'). I know, it's a common expression used with a French accent, but it's still not French…hehe, sank you zo much for zee review! I know, eet ees very exziting!**

Chapter 9: Chains of Freedom

Nico's dark eyes flashed in shock. Slowly he stood, his eyes darting back and forth between the sharp point of the blade at his chin and the face of his older brother.

I glanced fearfully from one boy to the other, breathing hard in apprehension. How would Nico get us out of this horrible fix?

"I wasn't talking to her," said Nico levelly.

Jake leered. "Yes you were. I saw everything that went on."

Nico switched tactics. "I was planning something with her, then, if that satisfies you."

My eyes widened. No! He couldn't give us away now!

"This is Chloe Phoenix, one of the unclaimed half-bloods," he went on calmly, to my stupefied amazement. "She has decided to join your forces."

Jake narrowed his eyes. "I don't believe you."

I caught on and said, too quickly for either of them to speak further, "It's true. I want to help you fight Olympus. I've had quite enough of these fickle gods and their weaknesses and bickering. It's time somebody sensible like you ruled the world."

He turned to me in surprise. "At least someone as young as you recognizes that," he said, with something almost like relief in his dark voice.

"She told me she has special powers that may prove useful to our cause," interposed Nico.

"Like?" demanded Jake.

"Like I can run really fast," I said. No use putting on a humble air, I thought.

Jake finally pulled back his long sword and sheathed it with a thoughtful look; he gazed at me steadily, almost studying me. "Yes," he mused aloud, "you would be useful to our force. If you really can get around as fast as you say you can, then I could make you one of our chief spies."

I surreptitiously breathed a sigh of relief. Good. I had convinced him.

Nico rubbed his chin where the blade had pricked him; then he managed a small smile—a secret signal to me that everything was okay now, and all I had to do now was play along with him and keep up the pretense in Jake's presence.

I was surprised at Jake's decisiveness. He suddenly drew a small knife from its strap inside his right boot, bent down, and slashed the ropes that bound my wrists. I gasped and let myself enjoy the feeling as blood began to circulate once more through my numbed wrists and hands.

"Nico, give her some fresh bread inside the mess hall tent. Then let her clean up and report to me," he ordered, then strode away.

I glanced meaningfully at Nico as Jake's figure disappeared back inside the main tent. "What do we do now?"

Nico's voice was low, and he appeared somewhat more cautious and watchful as he continued our previous discussion. "We got extremely lucky," he replied. "Jake's making you his chief spy. So that means you get to get around to inform the gods and obtain reinforcements from Mount Olympus."

"It's almost too good to be true," I said skeptically.

He nodded and sighed. "Well then, we just have to make the best of our situation…whatever that may be."

We both stood and made our way softly to the mess hall tent; I glanced back only once and saw Triton still sitting up and gazing on after me.

X~X~X~X~X

The flap of the tent whipped back, and I had to stoop to get in. It was rather dim inside because the canvas was quite thick, and it took my eyes a while to adjust to the relative gloom. At last I could make out the tall, spare figure of Jake bent intently over a map, marking out points of investigation and potential attack.

Jake didn't even look up as I came in. "Chloe Phoenix, is it? Come. I will show you something."

Obediently I stepped closer to him. I had taken a quick shower in the infirmary, and Nico had found a spare white t-shirt (somewhat large but still clean) and a fresh pair of jeans from the camp's lost-and-found bin; he had also gotten someone to help me bandage my wounds. I wriggled my toes gratefully as I stood next to Jake, enjoying the feel of all the sweat and blood of the recent battle washed off me.

Jake pointed with the tip of his knife at a spot on his large scale map of America. It was somewhere precisely in the middle of…nowhere.

He noted my puzzlement. "That is Mt. Saint Helens in Montana," he informed me. "We have some friends, the telekhines, camped out there inside and on the outskirts of the mountain. I want you to go there and give them a message from me. If they are still faithful, they will come here immediately."

"What is it you want me to tell them?" I queried, desperately trying to conceal my impatience.

"It is a very short phrase, but listen and remember well," said Jake gravely. "Tell them: The dusk sun shines crimson."

"The dusk sun shines crimson," I repeated under my breath. Then I turned back to him. "Anything else?"

"Also, show them this," said Jake, pulling off his finger a black stone ring I hadn't noticed there before. But instead of a stone, there was a tiny, intricate engraving of a silver helm. (**A/N: Remember Nico's ring? That one had a skull. This one has Hades' helm.**) "It will assure them of the authority by which you invoke their services," he added.

I nodded and pocketed the ring. "Nothing else?"

"Nothing," he said. "Except this." Here he pulled from the lining of his ever-ready boot a small bracelet of some sort. It was rather heavy, and crafted of hardy metal rings linked together in a chain. Before I could say anything more, Jake had grabbed my wrist and fastened the chain securely around it.

"What—"

"It allows me to track your progress," said Jake. Then he looked at me full in the eyes and smiled a slow, dark smile.

**A/N: Oh dear, poor Chloe! Now she can't go wherever she wants…**

**Sorry this was a relatively short chapter. I was rather short on ideas. But don't worry, the next one will definitely be much better. And keep a lookout for your other characters, Cerebella! Zale's coming up next!**

**Thanks, as always, to Cerebella and sean115920 for their characters! And thanks, as always, to my regular reviewers:**

_Anonymous Friend_

_RaechelleMarie_

_FantasyFan-WriterGirl_

_Ultimacy On High_

_Element Wolf_

_Cerebella_

_Electroclasm_

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_Olympiangirl_

_olympianchef213_

_Azn-Cake_

_AleBee_

_Sheva Das_

**And please don't forget to tell me **_**everything**_** you think of my story so far! Is it too fast? Too boring? Too slow? Too unoriginal? I don't mind constructive criticism, as long as it's from friends and not in the form of flames.**

**Reviews, please!**


	10. Chapter 10: Tricks Up My, Er, Wrist?

**A/N: Okay, now it was **_**really **_**wicked of me to keep you all waiting for more than a week for updates. I'm sorry. Get it? My sister all of a sudden had to use the computer day and night (as well as my mom) because she's applying for a college scholarship, and then my dad just happened to be away on a business trip and I couldn't use his laptop, so there. This is the best I could do. Glad you all understand (again, I'm assuming you do! XD).**

**Also, I'm announcing that presently I'm putting my fanfic **_**Two Pi**_** on hold until further notice. Four fanfics is really too much for me; I've started writing my sci-fi novel **_**Water**_** by hand at a furious pace, and I can only handle up to three fanfics.**

**Thank you all **_**so**_** much for your patience!**

**(Oh, and thanks to (insert forgotten name here!) for reminding me that Mount St. Helens is in Washington, not Montana. So, scrap what I said in the previous chapter about it being in Montana.)**

**Thanks, and enjoy!**

Chapter 10: Tricks Up My…er…Wrist?

"What the Hades are we going to do now?"

Nico muttered some vague curse under his breath and paced the length of the mess hall tent in a crooked, disturbed pattern. "I should have known it," he burst out. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect it. Of course, Jake always wants full control over his minions…and his spies."

I sighed and squeezed the bracelet circling my wrist, as if I hoped to crush it by brute force. "Then we have to work out a different plan, I guess," I suggested halfheartedly. "I can't get help from Olympus yet. We have to sit tight and wait and just do as Jake says until I win his trust and he starts sending me out on my missions without this stupid tracking bracelet."

Nico shook his head. "I don't think he'll ever do that. He's very cautious, and he hates to get into a situation he can't control. That's absolutely out of the question. What we need right now is a substitute…"

"A substitute?"

"Yeah. Someone who can maybe take your place so you're free to go where you need to go."

I frowned. "Good idea, but faulty. In the first place, how are we going to take _this_ thing off?" I indicated the hardy metal chain.

"Right," he groaned. "Sorry. I'm getting dumb these days…"

"How about somebody who can get the message to Olympus while I go off to Mount St. Helens?"

Nico glanced up at me. "You know, that might work," he began slowly, "if only we can find somebody who won't be missed if he sneaks away from camp. As of now, we're all either prisoners or infected half-bloods around here."

"Oh," I said, my spirits falling rather quickly to my toes.

"Not all infected," said a voice from the doorway.

I whirled. "Who are you!?"

It was a tall, lean boy not much younger than I—maybe thirteen or fourteen—with pale skin and damp jet black hair, along with large, bright bluish-green eyes. It seemed that wherever he went, his hair was wet. Where he'd dunked himself, I couldn't guess.

"Zale," he said.

"Oh, _you_!" I exclaimed.

Nico glanced questioningly at me. "Who is he?"

"Auslea's younger brother. A son of Aeolus," I whispered back.

Nico frowned. "Not a good development, I'm sure…"

Zale smiled lopsidedly. "You might say I'm the only one around here who hasn't been 'infected,' as you say, by Jake."

I stared at him. "Should I believe you?"

His smile morphed into an ear-to-ear grin. "That's up to you. Because if you do, I can help you…even more than you've ever realized."

Okay, let's just say I'm impulsive by nature (as if that weren't more obvious than anything else in the world about me). I completely ignored Nico's warning look into my eyes and stepped up to Zale, drawing myself eye-to-eye with the thirteen-year-old boy (I was still somewhat shorter than he). "All right," I declared. "What plan have you got for us?"

He sobered and reached for my manacled wrist. "First of all, I can take that thing off your hand and wear it myself. Then you can carry on your quest for help."

I read the sincerity in his eyes and slowly raised my wrist for him to see the chain around it. Silently he took it and produced a tiny silver key from his back pocket. It was so small, nearly the size of a pin, that at first I wondered what in the world he was going to do with it. But then he twisted around the steel links on my wrist and placed a finger on a certain junction, where he then shoved the teeth of his key into the slot and jerked it around, producing a satisfying _click_. Then the bracelet rattled off my hand.

I stared in shock as Zale deftly and swiftly twisted the bracelet around his own wrist and locked the links together. Then he shoved the miniscule key back into his jeans pocket.

"You—you're dead serious?" I gasped. "You're going to be my substitute?"

He nodded wordlessly.

"Gee, thanks," I murmured bashfully. "So…I guess you'll be going off to the telekhines now."

He nodded again. "Do you have any other plans?" he suddenly said, as if it were an afterthought.

I gazed it him steadily, but at last I just shook my head. "I'm not sure. I don't really have anything yet."

"Okay," he shrugged, and without another word, he ducked his tall frame out under the flap of the tent.

"Whoa…what was all _that_ about?" asked Nico.

X~X~X~X~X

The moon was high in the sky by the time I at last mustered enough courage to poke my head out of the tent and glance around the clearing. The entire camp was silent and still: all was safe.

"Do you have your pack?" Nico whispered at my elbow.

I nodded and showed him the leather knapsack slung across my back in the silver light.

"Be careful, then," said Nico. By the dim rays filtering through the flap, I could discern the glisten in his eyes. Was he crying…?

"I will," I whispered back. Then, of an impulse, I leaned forward and pecked him lightly on the cheek. Before he could say anything more or hold me back, I swept out of the tent and into the forest.

"Chloe! Is that you?"

I gasped and stumbled, then caught myself, cursing silently. For Zeus' sake, why did Triton have to sneak up on me like that?

I turned slowly, trying not to make a sound in the rustling grass. I could just see his silhouette against the blackened night, tall and standing alone in the dark before me. "You—you've gotten free!" I stammered.

He nodded and drew me closer. "Listen, was it true? All that about you being a servant of Jake?" His sharp green eyes searched me keenly.

I shook my head. "It was Nico's ruse."

He breathed an audible sigh of relief. "Thank the gods you're not," he muttered fiercely. "I never knew you to be a traitor, impulsive as you are."

I smiled reassuringly at him. "Don't worry, I'll be back."

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"Jake thinks I'm going to muster the telekhines at Mount St. Helens," I explained, "but we have a substitute who volunteered secretly to go there and pretend he's me, so Jake will be thrown off the scent. Meanwhile, I'm going to Olympus to get help."

"Scent? What scent?"

"Jake put a tracker bracelet on me, but Zale took it for himself as a substitute," I blurted out.

Triton's eyes suddenly hardened. "Zale! You trust that accursed son of Aeolus!"

"He's not infected by Jake," I explained hastily. "Quick, I have no more time. I must be going now." I turned to go.

"Wait!"

I turned back.

"I'm going to free all the half-bloods tonight and lead them in the morning against Jake," declared Triton, his eyes flashing like flinty emeralds. "I won't stand this. We have to find Chiron and free Camp Half-Blood."

My jaw dropped. "No, Triton! Don't! You'll be killed! Wait for my return. Please. Just trust me. I'll go get help and try to find Chiron at the same time. Please, Triton. You have to trust me."

Triton stared at me for a long moment; at last, without another word, he nodded.

I breathed a sigh of relief and managed a shaky smile in the dark. "Don't break your promise to me," I implored him. "Just sit tight. You don't know Jake's powers. I'll be back as soon as I can, believe me. I wouldn't want you—to die… I—I love you as a brother."

Triton suddenly smiled with an odd expression when he heard these last words. "Then you're like my sister," he said softly. "Okay, go on now. I'll keep my promise, by the River Styx."

The earth rumbled softly beneath our feet.

"Thank you," I whispered one last time, and disappeared into the night.

**A/N: Okay, this chapter was something of a sucker, wasn't it? Well, please excuse this particular one—I had to do it all in a rush. It's one of those "transitional chapters," if you know what I mean.**

**Hope you liked it, anyhow! Please review! Don't be afraid to submit flames! I accept all constructive criticism!**

**(Oh, and since it's been such a **_**long**_** while, I can't remember right now how many reviewers I have, so thanks to all of you!)**


	11. Chapter 11: Forgotten Snack Bars

**A/N: Yeah. It's official: I've deleted Black Light and Two Pi permanently from the PJO fanfiction archive. I just couldn't stand it. The pressure of four stories going was too much for me. At least now I've finished Blue Fire, and I can start working on the preliminaries for its sequel, Blood Ice. (Look for it within the next two weeks!)**

**And since Whisper is my second best story, I mercifully decided to spare it from **_**la guillotine**_**. So, here is the next chapter! Tada!**

Chapter 11: Forgotten Snack Bars

The early morning breeze brought a waft of fresh air that cooled the beads of sweat on my brow and rustled softly through my coal-black hair. I hefted my leather knapsack and heaved my shoulders in a deep sigh, stopping only momentarily to enjoy my short-term freedom from Jake's clutches. I only had a few days to get where I wanted to go and back—and then I had to worry about Zale on top of all that.

Even if I had told Nico and Triton that I trusted the son of Aeolus, in reality I still had my doubts. I wondered why he would offer to do such a gallant thing so readily for my sake. In addition, why would he in particular remain "uninfected" by Jake's hold if his own brother's and sisters' mind were being controlled? It was an unfathomable mystery, and I stood half-hidden in the foliage of a low-hanging bough, dazed and wondering at the sudden turn of events in my short fifteen-year life.

Then I forcibly roused myself back to action and trudged out again from the shelter of the trees surrounding me. I was at least five or six miles from camp by now, and I wondered if there could be a main road nearby.

My thoughts were instantaneously answered by the very sudden burst of open pavement before me. The boughs flung themselves back from my hair and let my vision clear to see a long, wide, endless highway stretching for hundreds and hundreds of miles in both directions. I swallowed hard to quell the panic rising to my throat. Now I was wholly, completely, totally lost.

_Please gods, send me someone to help me through_.

I opened my eyes again and breathed deeply, lifting my face to the wide blue skies above me. Already the sun was climbing up in the sky, and morning had broken fully on the world.

_Please_.

The world seemed to fall silent about me, and for a moment I went deaf, and everything blurred before my eyes. A small breeze caressed my face and seemed to chuckle in the distance as it skipped and rushed past me in a whirl. Then, just as suddenly as everything had dimmed around me, my vision brightened considerably again, and I had to blink to clear my throbbing eyes.

I was still standing on the edge of the road, with my pack slung over my back, facing the highway, but still, something just seemed…different.

Then I realized what it was. A sleek dark blue sedan had stopped and pulled up directly in front of me, and the driver—whoever it was—was quickly opening the door and making his way toward me.

I blinked owlishly in the bright light of high morning. The man walking slowly toward me was maybe in his mid-thirties, as old as my mother; he had jet black waves of hair falling over a pair of bright, strikingly blue eyes. He was not too tall, about average, but he was impressively fit and muscular.

I wondered what the heck he could be doing here in the middle of a deserted highway at this time of day.

"Hello there!" he called to me when he was about halfway across the road. I simply raised my hand in acknowledgment until he reached my end and was standing directly in front of me.

"I see you need a ride, don't you?" he observed.

I nodded mutely. For once in my entire short fifteen-year life, I had nothing to say. This guy—he seemed so powerful and intimidating for some reason, but at the same time so friendly and familiar too. It was bewildering.

I licked my over-dry lips and attempted to speak. At last I managed, "Who are you? Where are you from? How do I know you're not a goon?"

(And I was just warming up.)

Amusement flashed across the man's eyes. He laughed warmly. "Why, those are very good questions! And it was a smart thing of you to ask them all at once. It certainly does speed up conversation, doesn't it?"

I gaped at him like an idiot. (Out of character—on the contrary, many said I acted like an Athena kid.)

"Well, you can call me Zeke for now," he went on, "Zeke Ventus. I'm from"—he waved a hand vaguely around—"these parts. And me, a goon? Not a chance. I can prove that to you if you'll let me."

I quirked a brow, a bit of my cocky spirit beginning to return (despite my hunger). "How? By giving me a ride? Not a chance of that either. If you _are_ a goon, I won't _let_ you give me a ride."

He laughed even more.

At that moment, I suddenly believed him. I don't know exactly why—it must have been Zeke's easy, carefree personality, and maybe he was just plain good at convincing people. I didn't even care anymore if he really _was_ a goon. He just seemed like a nice person, and I trusted my instincts when they told me I could trust someone. (That was another thing about me—I had an amazing intuition.)

"Well, what are you waiting for, then?" Zeke cried. He beckoned to me with a hand. "Come on! Hop in! I'll drive across the world for you!"

I burst out laughing at that and followed him grudgingly to where his midnight blue sedan sat at the side of the road. He flashed me a smile when I chose to sit in the passenger seat.

"Nice car," I commented.

"Thanks," he grinned. "My cousin helped me pick it out."

"Hm," I said.

"You look hungry," he remarked.

I shook my head politely.

"_Very_ hungry," he added.

My stomach growled defiantly in assent. I sighed.

He grinned yet again as he doled out a bunch of energy bars from somewhere in the back of his car. He tossed them into my lap with a little laugh. "I always keep this sort of stuff around me."

"I would guess," I replied wryly. "You look like a health buff."

"Actually, my cousin would be the health buff around here."

"You sure do talk a lot about your cousin," I grinned back at him. "You must admire him."

"I do, in fact. He's like a big brother."

"What does he look like?"

"Aha, young girls like you shouldn't be asking that."

"Now wait just a minute!" I protested. "First of all, I'm not as young as you probably think I am. And secondly, I have no ulterior motives for asking that question. Asking questions is just my hobby. My tongue never tires, even when my brain does."

"I can see that."

"As if you wouldn't."

"Ha."

"Well? What about my question? Trust me, I'm completely innocent."

He laughed again. "All right, I give in. He's really tall. And he looks hot."

I made a face. I already had a pretty good picture of his cousin. "Yeah, sandy hair and blue eyes and all, right? Pretty typical. My uncle, I've heard, looks like that too."

"And who's he?"

"Lemme clue you on this one. His name begins with A and ends with O," I said mysteriously with a mischievous grin.

"No fair," Zeke complained.

"You don't act like you're thirty-something," I said. (As usual, I forgot my manners.)

"And you don't act like you respect your elders," he said playfully.

"That's because you don't act like an elder."

"That's begging the question. That's a logical fallacy."

"I know that."

"Ha, then why did you use it in the first place?"

"Because it's a sensible fallacy."

"That doesn't make sense."

"It's not supposed to."

"I don't get you."

"Well, I get it, because my aunt just happens to be Athena—"

I shut my mouth so hastily that I bit my tongue in the process.

"Whoa, we need to back up a bit," said Zeke, with an awed expression. "_What_ did you just say?"

I bit my lip hard and quickly decided to make the best of my very, very bad situation. "You're not a mortal," I shot back. "I can tell that."

"Of course I'm not," returned Zeke, a little surprised at my aggressiveness. "But neither are you. I knew that from the start. You're a half-blood, aren't you?"

I nodded, my mouth set in a grim horizontal line.

"Who are you, then? Are you a kid of Zeus or something?"

I shook my head and frowned. "I'm unclaimed."

"Then what the heck are you doing out alone at this time of day?" he burst out. "You can't be on a quest."

"Yes, I am."

"But how?"

"It's a quest of a different sort." I took a deep breath. "Camp Half-Blood's been overrun by enemies."

"What?" he gasped.

I nodded solemnly. "I'm one of the only three that were able to get loose—by various means. Chiron's gone missing, and I've got to find him. But first, I have to get to Olympus to tell the gods what's going on so they can send help."

Zeke stared at me with a wild look in his piercing blue eyes. "I'm a god."

Now it was my turn to gape at him. "What?"

"You heard me. I'm a god."

"But—but which one?" I sputtered.

He laughed humorlessly. "I go by the name Zeke Ventus down here on earth, but I'm really Zephyrus, god of the west wind."

"Hypers," I squeaked.

"Oh, come on, don't feel shy around me," Zeke coaxed. "I mean, you're part Olympian too. What did you say your name was?"

"I don't recall having ever told you my name," I managed to correct him, despite my sudden thrill of awe at sitting right in front of an actually living Olympian god. "I'm Chloe Phoenix, and I'm fifteen."

Suddenly Zeke paled. "Phoenix? You said your last name's Phoenix?"

"Yes…"

"Who's your mother?"

"Anelise Phoenix. Why—"

"Anelise Phoenix! Wild whisperwings!" he exclaimed. "Anelise, Anelise—Anelise…"

"Do you—do you know her?" I queried tentatively. "Do you know my mom?"

"By the skies of Olympus, yes. She was my girlfriend when we were both younger."

My jaw dropped. "Are you saying—"

"Yes I am."

"You're serious?"

"Of course I am."

"I thought you never were serious."

"This time I'm positive."

"I don't know whether to see this as positive or negative news."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know that's not what you meant."

"Well, don't you at least feel glad that we met?"

"Honestly, I don't know what to feel."

"Why not?"

"Well, I just can't imagine that you're actually—that you're truly—that you're _genuinely_ my…my…"

"Your what?"

"My dad!"

**A/N: Tada! I **_**told**_** you her father's Zephyrus!**

**I had a lot of fun doing the frequent humorous exchanges between Chloe and "Zeke." I thought it would be nice that Chloe and her dad sort of treat each other more as equals instead of having a stiff daughter-parent relationship—it lightens the mood a lot, and it will play an important role in the plot later on.**

**That wasn't so much of a thrilling cliffie, was it? Well, it's just another of those highly funny/surprising "transitional" chapters. Not outstanding, necessarily, but it's actually my personal favorite.**

**Well, enough of my talk now! What do **_**you**_** think? Please tell me! Please review!**


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